Early Xmas Shopping

I received Dale Degroff’s new book in the mail yesterday, and let me tell you, it’s a doozy! Entitled The Essential Cocktail, The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks, this tome covers it all, from classics like Flip and the Clover Club to more common drinks like the Long Island Iced Tea and the Stinger.

My favorite feature of this latest work by the King of Cocktails is the variations that he offers next to those standards that you know so well. For instance instead of just offering up the recipe for the Gimlet (the histories of the libations are also provided), he will also give you two variations: the California Gimlet and the Yuzu Gimlet. Fine work indeed!

For those of you who are curious about molecular mixology, Dale touches upon this as well, offering up recipes that incorporate foams, with a whole page devoted to the subject alone.

Christmas is coming, do you really need more incentive to have you and your loved ones start drinking better?

Here’s one to wet your whistle while you wait for your copy to arrive:

On a personal note, I’m off to Prague in a couple of days to teach some seminars for the Czech Bar Awards and then stopping off in New York on my way back home to participate in the Martin Miller’s gin Masters Competition, so don’t expect a new post anytime soon!

Happy Halloween y’all, and let me know if I should bother comin’ back to the States after the election, will ya? (I’m trying to come off folksy in hopes of becoming as popular as a Palin)